The present invention is directed to curable compositions, especially coating compositions, based on ungelled resins containing both air-oxidizable groups and epoxy groups and based on compounds having both epoxy-reactive moieties and silicon atoms bonded to hydrolyzable groups.
It is known to cure polyepoxides with, for example, amines such as polyamines to produce cured compositions. However, the cure of resins containing air-oxidizable groups via such air-oxidizable groups typically is inhibited by the presence of amines. Moreover, resins which cure essentially solely through an air oxidative cure mechanism, while often providing films ultimately having a good combination of properties, often cure at disadvantageously slow rates which make handling of objects coated with such resins difficult, especially where high temperatures are not utilized to help cure the resins. An object of the present invention is to provide curable compositions which advantageously utilize both an oxidative cure mechanism as well as an epoxy-reactive moiety/epoxy cure mechanism and which can be cured at relatively low temperatures, preferably ambient temperature, to provide cured films having an excellent combination of properties both shortly after curing has begun (sometimes called "early properties") and after curing has been substantially completed (sometimes called "ultimate properties"). In other words an object of the present invention is to provide compositions which can be cured relatively quickly to provide films having a good combination of "early properties", which allow for handling of objects containing the films without causing disadvantageous deterioration of the films, and which ultimately cure to films having an excellent combination of overall "ultimate" properties. Additional objects of the present invention will become apparent to the reader infra.